Kô

I came on my anniversary & it was just another dinner for us. I was a little disappointed because everyone raved about eating here but they didn’t seem too interested in having us dine with them. They lost my reservation & repeatedly asked if I actually made a reservation and the hostess led us to a table where we would have to be sitting in a booth side by side staring directly at another couple. I kindly asked if I could move to a different table (it was quite late so there was over 80% of the restaurant unoccupied). Once, we sat down it eat it was better. The food was good. My favs are the spicy tuna poke bowl & crispy calamari. Would go back for the food.

We celebrated a birthday with a large group here. Overall it was enjoyable but inconsistent. They did a great job with our large party and brought a very special dessert platter for the birthday boy!
Likes: Very pretty space. Service was excellent. Specialty cocktails were delish and the wine menu is solid. We had two really nice pinots. Kobe beef poke was amazing. Lavender shrimp appetizer was really good. One of our group had the lobster dish and said it was off the hook.
Not So Great: We were surprised at the amount of fried food on the menu. Seemed strange for such an upscale place. Lumpia appetizer was awful.
I had the special mahi mahi plate and it was meh. Just ok. The mong jong special was swimming in chili sauce. One of our party had the steak and said it was so salty he couldn’t eat it.
A little all over the place. I wouldn’t say don’t go — just choose carefully.

After reading great reviews, I decided to book this restaurant and treat my mom out to dinner. We booked for 745, but arrived early at 730 and were told it would be a short 10 minute way before being seated. At 745, I walked back up to the hostess, who informed me the tables were being set up and we would be seated soon. We were seated at 755. Clearly not a good sign for such a prestigious restaurant.
Upon being seated, we were handed menus and our glasses filled with water. No one came by for 20 minutes. I contemplated asking for the manager to give us a new server as this was beyond acceptable. As it stands, I believe our lack of service to be because we were the only Asian family seated. Servers kept walking by us to everyone else and you guessed it, they were white.
Our server finally decided to stop by and take our food orders. The food came out fairly quickly, which makes sense because the restaurant was only 50% filled. For the table, we ordered:
Lavender honey shrimp
2 rib-​eyes
1 lamb chop
1 island stew
The food was delicious! Loved the bread they brought out as well. The server who cleared our dishes, refilled our water, and restocked our free bread was the nicest of the bunch. This guy knows service and yet, they only have him doing the most basic of tasks. Management needs an overhaul. The manager did stop by for about 3 seconds to ask, «How was your meal?» and left before we could respond, LOL. What a cool guy!
And to top off this magnificent night, my mother spent the rest of her night throwing up her meal (island stew). Kudos to Ko for lackluster service, food poisoning, and a horrible night. Not sure why I even tipped them 25%. Maybe it’s the foodie in me.
Would I recommend this place to anyone? Hell no. Not even to my worst enemy.

My husband and I were celebrating a special anniversary. Our 20^th date-​a-​versary. He suggested that we really go out and celebrate. A fancy meal in fancy clothes at a fancy place. I hopped on Unilocal and poked around but a little birdie on my shoulder chirped «Ko!» So off I went to make a reservation. The woman on the phone was so polite. I told her it was our anniversary and that I wanted to be there in time for the sunset and then dinner. She suggested times that were helpful in securing our reservation so we wouldn’t have to rush down from town. She reminded me that Ko offers the best Kama’aina on island along with a beautiful setting at the Fairmont Kea Lani. I was so excited!
Parking was a breeze as they offer free valet when you dine at Ko. The Fairmont… it’s stunning! The décor, the view, the slight breeze. We headed down to the beach to find the sun setting. The walk down was full of beautiful flowers and plants of every color and size.
We were greeted with by warm friendly staff who showed us to (I think) the best seat in the house. The ambiance of Ko was relaxing, welcoming and pure awesome. Our server Sarah was so super friendly and helpful! She asked us what we like, offered ideas and her favorites which was helpful. We started off with THE most incredible drinks! Ever had a Calamansi mojito? Don’t even think about it, just get yourself one! I don’t even really like alcohol… but this drink is not to be missed.
Food. (sigh) So yum! Everything was awesome. We got Ahi On the Rock You Sear it to start and it was so fun to cook it ourselves. The salts and the meat cut was perfectly matched. I got the lemongrass coconut broth with the fish of the day (Ahi? Whatever it was: ONO!) The bread/​cracker platter, rice – it was all tasty.
My husband said «This is the best food I’ve had on island to date.» And he EATS. so … that should say something. T
We wrapped up the meal with dessert and they even wrote «Happy Anniversary» in chocolate on the plate. It was a platter of different tasty sweets and… I ate way too much. After all of that, a little tray of ginger candies was delivered to cleanse the palate. And this was the start of my new ginger obsession.
Seriously, they went above and beyond to make our experience awesome. I’ve been there one other time since then (with a group of 20 women!!) and they were the same way.
If I could, I’d give them 10 stars! Much aloha to Ko— especially that kitchen staff – keep being awesome!

This restaurant is in the Fairmont Hotel. The setting wasn’t anything special but the food definitely was.
Lobster tempura was absolutely fantastic. Don’t miss this dish; it’s not particularly filling so I wouldn’t suggest it as your only course but the lobster was tender and delicious.
Spring roll with chicken is prepared in long, thin tubes about the size of a thin cigar. Very tasty and unusually accompanied by rice noodles and bean sprouts.
Ahi tuna tempura roll was delicious. Very filling and a great accompaniment to the lighter dishes we ordered.
Finally, we took a shot at the gluten-​free California roll and that was exceptionally good too. Surprising to me as I’m not gluten-​free and have been under the impression that everything prepared that way would taste like cardboard. It could be on the regular menu and most people wouldn’t know the difference.
Overall, if you’re in Wailea, dine here.

Once again, an incredible evening here with excellent service and impeccably prepared food. I started off with the spicy tuna poke bowl. Excellent balance of flavors, not to be missed! The lobster tempura was so crispy on the outside and the lobster was delectably moist inside. Definitely a favorite now. I had to get my most favorite dish here… The ginger hoisin BBQ pork chop. Omg… It is huge and every bite melts in my mouth. This is a must try for all the pork lovers! Be sure and ask for the wasabi butter on the side for dipping.

Our first night in Maui our flight was delayed and we missed our dinner reservations here, so we decided to pop in for lunch today instead! The location is gorgeous and it’s very chic inside, but not too dressy. The first thing I noticed was their extensive cocktail list, each cocktail with a Hawaiian flare added to it, yum! Twists on the Moscow mule, daqueris, and mojitos all of which were quite tasty. And all of which came out looking like a picture.
I had the chop chop sesame chicken salad with avocado, very light despite the large portion size! It maybe could use a little kick — soy, spice, peanut sauce… just something but either way it was very good. The stir fry noodles with chicken was phenomenal, and the pulled pork flatbread and mahi mahi wrap, though a bit messy, were both great choices as well. We did try the vanilla crème brûlée as well, so creamy and flavorful, very classic. They do have more adventurous dessert options as well!
We loved our lunch and will probably be back for lunch again this trip! The service was spot on and the view is beautiful overlooking the pool :)

After once declining an invite to dine at Ko due to menu selection and price, I hesitantly jumped in with both feet, party because it was the last day of Wailea Restaurant Week, but mostly because we were taking a good friend out to dinner, and this was the spot she chose.
ATMOSPHERE:
Ko is located poolside in the Fairmont Kea Lani. The open air restaurant features trendy décor, spacious booths, high tops, regular tables, and odd bar seating that’s split in half; one half of the circular bar is traditional seating while the other half sits on the floor below about 4 steps down, giving diners privacy but no view of anything besides the wall holding up the bar counter.
MENU:
It’s a pricey mashup of dishes of the main ethnicities that make up Hawaii — Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Hawaiian with American influences. Being that they were participating in the restaurant week, they had a 3-​course special for $ 49 with nice options.
FOOD:
House Bread — Two styles of bread were offered, a 9-​grain furikake (roasted sesame seeds & dried seaweed) crusted bread, and focaccia. There were three spreads to choose from; a spicy Korean BBQ which was an odd choice for a bread topping and would taste better on meat, a lavender infused butter which was light and creamy though I couldn’t detect any lavender flavor, and an edamame hummus which was okay and very mildly flavored. I’d prefer plain old butter.
Portuguese Bean Soup — Normally $ 14 — The soup was hearty with lots of beans and veggies. The flavor was spot on to traditional homemade recipes but there was some kind of added spice, which I thought was cinnamon, but turned out to be a special seasoning blend that is sold at one of the hotel’s shops across from the restaurant. My inquisitive friend asked for the recipe, and would you know that they brought out a nicely printed version of it, every ingredient listed. Apparently they also have a cookbook for sale. Great service!
Beef Short Ribs — I usually opt for fish or something that I can’t cook for myself at home, but I thought I’d take the chance on this one. Normally priced at a whopping $ 46 alone, the boneless pieces of very tender meat were nicely marinated and grilled, and came over a delicious congee, or rice porridge, which tasted just like my mom’s homemade jook. Good dish, but it should be priced $ 10 less, due to the amount of meat you receive, and the simple ingredients that make up this dish.
DESSERT:
Maui Vanilla Bean Brûlée — The three of us ordered off the restaurant week menu so we each chose one of the three desserts offered which usually sells for $ 15 each. This was my favorite of the bunch. It’s a traditional brûlée with a creamy vanilla center that wasn’t overly sweet.
Wailua Estate Chocolate Baked Custard — My second favorite of the trio, were thin slices of chocolate cake with a crunchy crust topping, and thin layer of custard in between. Not overly sweet and great for the chocolate fan. My same curious friend asked what the recipe was for the crunchy topping. While my other friend and I held our heads down in embarrassment, our awesome server brought out yet another recipe for him. Amazing.
Plantation Pineapple Cake — The shiny cake looked like a giant scallop on the plate. The yellow cake was too wet for my liking, and overall was too sweet and drowned in a fruity sauce. Pass.
SERVICE:
Host service was friendly and welcoming.
Our server, Serena, was awesome. Very friendly, patient, professional, and even conquered two abnormal requests from our presumptuous friend.
We were dining well past their closing time of 9pm and never felt rushed or given an attitude.
TIP:
Ko offeres a kama’aina BOGO special on entrees.
OVERALL:
Very overpriced, good mainstream food, outstanding service. Definitely take advantage of the restaurant week special to get more bang for your buck.

We decided to have an early girls’ night and check out Ko’s happy hour, which is 4:00 — 6:00. We’re Maui locals but don’t dine out at the hotel restaurants very often, usually because of price lol. Happy to report that Ko’s happy hour prices are reasonable. :)
I had a yummy mai tai which was nice and fruity but I could still taste thr alcohol. One friend got the «Upcountry Buck» which I didn’t personally care for since I don’t like ginger. And another got the lava flow, which was really good but we didn’t taste a hint of alcohol!
We decided to sharer the following pupus…
Oishi Sushi — Just your typical sushi roll, nothing special. But we are a group that eats a LOT of fish and sushi.
Crispy Calamari — We couldn’t stop eating this! Kept popping them left and right.
Korean Style Spicy Chicken — I’ve eaten a lot of Korean chicken and I’d say this one was just okay. Not bad but not the best I’ve had.
Stir Fried Peppered Shrimp — Nicely cooked shrimp with a yummy Maui onion sauce.
Kalua Pork Flatbread — My favorite of the night! ALMOST lives up to Flatbread’s «Mopsy» pizza (check it out if you haven’t yet).
Kobe Beef Poke — Cooked medium raw. Two of my friends didn’t like seeing the «red» of the meat. I wish the meat was a little more tender because some pieces were hard to chew.
Overall we had a good time with nice ambiance. The rest of the diners seemed like hotel guests, which is expected. Wish we got to be seated by the pool to get a nice breeze because it was a little hot where we were sitting. The instrumental guitar live music made up for it. Would eat here again if someone suggested it, but I’d like to try out other spots first.